Beautiful Melodies
by xconcretegirl
Summary: A struggling musician. An undiscovered talent. Two unlikely people come together to create something beautiful and make their dreams happen. ExB, AH AU
1. Smokey Bars

I was hit with sudden inspiration and had to write this. I decided to go ahead and post the first chapter now, and see if anyone thinks it's worth writing more of. I'm definitely still writing my other stories, and should have updates for both of them this week.

Anyway, here it is. Hope you guys enjoy it and please review and tell me if I should continue or not!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

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Chapter One.

Edward's pov.

Music flooded from my piano, strains of Beethoven filling the smokey bar. My fingers moved across the ivory keys effortlessly, I knew this piece like the back of my hand, I could play it without having to think about it.

That gave me the opportunity to shut my eyes and try not to breathe in the disgusting smoke and just listen to the music. I tried to pretend I was somewhere else, anywhere else. Like...a stage. The lights dimmed, aside from one on my piano, the audience watching me with adoring and surprised expressions as the music poured from my piano, playing the classics and my own original pieces...

"Cullen! What have I told you about playing this crap? People don't come in here to listen to Mozart or whatever. They want to hear something current."  
Mike Newton's insufferable voice cut me back to the present-and the bar. I shot him a scornful glare. _Beethoven! _I wanted to shout at him, but I knew that he was too dumb to care or remember. "Maybe I was trying to class the place up," I muttered sarcastically, reluctantly ending my classical music and playing some pop song that I heard every five minutes on the radio.

"I heard that," Mike called back at me, as he turned away to walk back to the counter, his eyes focusing on some tall redhead.

_Poor girl, run while you still can, _I thought to myself, shaking my head. I didn't answer Mike, because he knew as well as I did that he was _supposed _to hear that. Not that he was paying attention to me or my playing anymore, just the redhead.

I rolled my eyes, shutting my eyes, and trying to ignore the music as well this time. It was pathetic, really. I had been so 'promising'. The kind of person they called a prodigal, born for this. And here I was, 22 and in some rundown bar, playing music that I detested. Yeah, I was sure showing a lot of 'promise.'

I resisted the urge to glance at the clock. Last call was at two, and then I would be able to start the long walk back to my house and try to get a few hours of sleep, if I was lucky. It was a few minutes till two now, I could tell by the bartender-Tyler-beginning to clean up the place a bit.

I switched into some other song, one I was still learning to play. It took my full attention trying to get the music right, and I was grateful for the distraction from my loud thoughts. It was a long song as well, and it would kill a few more minutes.

I guess maybe things weren't so terrible. I loved the piano, I loved playing. Even if it was a song I hated, I still got to play the piano, and that's what I needed. I was like a junkie, and the piano was my fix-I always had to get more of it.

"Can I help you?" I heard Mike ask someone, in a bored tone.

"Um, yes." Answered a quiet timid voice. Her voice was soft and sweet, almost melodic. My head snapped up from my piano to see who the voice belonged to. It was a tiny young woman, maybe twenty-but probably not-with a nice figure and long brown curly hair.

Mike turned his attention away from the redhead-who I was pretty sure was very drunk-to look at her, waiting for her to go on.

"I'm a singer," she blurted out, and she turned to glance at me, as if to enhance her point, a blush coloring her cheeks. She was cute, that was for sure. As she looked at me I could see her large brown eyes and full lips. There was an innocent but determined expression on her face.

"We don't need a singer," Mike said, straight to the point.

Her face fell and she turned back to him. "Couldn't I just sing you something?" she asked, and she sounded...desperate.

"Sorry kid, it won't change my mind," he told her honestly, and turned back the redhead.

We didn't really need a singer here, or at least, we couldn't afford one. We got people in here all the time, trying to prove they could sing, and most of the time they were just really freaking bad. It was hard not to get short with people after a while. But I found myself wishing that he would give this girl a chance.

_Oh please. _I was getting ridiculous.

She looked well...devastated. But only for a minute. Then she picked up her chin and squared her shoulders. "Thank you for your time," she said, forcing the politeness a bit, and then turned to walk out the doors.

I had the strangest urge to follow her. _Woo, what do you know, you finally are going insane! _

I still couldn't shake off that strange feeling though, and I found it hard to concentrate on playing anymore. I finally stood up, pushing away from the piano. "I'm taking off, Newton," I muttered in his direction. He was much to caught up in the girl to care, and he just waved me off, muttering something I couldn't catch at me.

I grabbed my jacket, shrugging it on and shoving my hands into the pockets, heading out into the dark Chicago night. It was actually a pretty warm night, but I huddled into my coat nonetheless, starting the long walk back to my house. I could take the subway or the bus and make it considerably shorter. But I just...didn't.

I liked having the time to think, I guess. Which was crazy, considering that's one of the things that bugged me most. Thoughts. Thinking. I could _never _stop thinking, and that drove me insane. I was fighting this inner battle inside, and I really didn't know what I was fighting over.

I sighed. One of my problems right now was feeling like I hadn't done anything in my life except disappoint. I disappointed my parents, just playing in some bar, I disappointed all those people who thought I had so much 'promise' and I disappointed myself. I hated feeling like this. I knew what I was going to have to do, but I didn't want to do it, so I was putting it off as long as possible.

I was going to have to quit and get a real job. Maybe go back to college and finish becoming a lawyer. I could make my parents proud, become a responsible citizen, move out of my parents house _finally _and make more than enough money to live on. But I knew there wouldn't be much room for playing the piano then. I was going to have to give up my drug to get that life, and I wasn't sure I could do it.

"Don't break down, in this broken world around you..."

The words stopped me in my tracks, freezing me to the spot. That voice..the person singing. It was....if there was an angel, that was it. That was her voice. She hit the notes perfectly, her voice smooth and honey sweet. I continued to listen to her sing, memorized. She sang high note, and low notes, and each one was perfect and beautiful. It was...the most beautiful thing I had ever head.

I finally managed to snap out of my reverie, and I looked around, desperate to find the owner of the voice. I _needed _to find her. It sounded like it was coming from this alley, so I headed down it, ignoring the mud and water, and the smells coming from a dumpster. I was also pretty sure I saw a rat watching me with beady little....rat eyes.

And then I saw her, still singing. I stopped in my tracks, studying her face, it's familarity hitting me.

It was the girl from the bar.

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And there it is. =]


	2. Dark Alley

Thanks for all the reviews guys!

I wanted to get this out earlier, but I decided halfway through to change the pov from Edward's to Bella's...so I had to rewrite it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

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Chapter Two

Bella's pov.

I turned around when I heard footsteps approaching behind me, the song I was singing ending in mid-word. The final note fell from my mouth in a resoundingly sour note that made me cringe. I couldn't focus on _that _though, because there was a man standing in front of me. Probably in his early twenties.

He stared at me, standing in front of me, blocking alley that lead the road, his hands hanging limply at his side. His eyes-which, I might add, were the greenest eyes I had ever seen in my life-were wide as he watched me.

I realized that he had heard me singing, and I felt heat rush to my cheeks. Blushing, as usual. As soon as the embarrassment came, however, it disappeared, and was replaced with fear. Because I was standing in a bad part of town, with someone I didn't know, even though, as I stared at his face with wide eyes, he did look vaguely familiar. But not familiar enough for me to let my guard down.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, debating whether to run or not. A smart person would have just ran. A smart person wouldn't just stand there, waiting to see how things turned out, hoping it was for the good. But well, I'd never been too smart.

And he didn't really look very threatening. He was a stranger, yes, but the way he was staring at me with his mouth open, gaping made me think that he wasn't too dangerous. And he didn't look like most of the people I saw in this part of town, either. He was wearing casual looking jeans and a black jacket. There was no tattoos covering his neck or even his face, and he didn't have any piercings. He didn't look to be concealing a weapon, or giving me one of those suggestive smiles and winks like most of the men did around here.

So, I would take my chances.

"Can I...help you?" Bad choice of words. But my voice was surprisingly strong as I spoke. He was still staring at me, and I chewed my bottom lip as I waited for him to speak. Instead of being nervous, I was starting to get...amused. He was just standing there, still gaping at me.

Finally my words seemed to sink in. "Was that you singing?" he blurted out. And he looked...he had this funny expression on his face that I couldn't really understand.

I blinked at him a few times, taken a bit off guard by his question. My cheeks heated up again. I must look _insane _standing in an alley freaking singing to myself. I glanced up at him again, embarrassed, and realized that he really did look familiar. That bronze hair and those green eyes.... "You're from the bar," I said with confidence. "The piano player."

He nodded, and his adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Yes," he confirmed. "Was that you singing?"

A few light chuckles slipped from my lips, and they sounded more nervous than anything. "Yeah, that was me." I couldn't help but blush again. "It's weird, I know....but my landlord, well, he gets really mad if I make too much noise. So I usually come out here and singing...." I had some weird urge to explain my crazy behavior. Like this explanation really made me any less strange? I shifted my weight from foot to foot again, embarrassed and feeling awkward.

"You're voice...it's perfect," he said, his voice sweet and honey smooth.

I stared at him for a minute, wondering if I had actually heard what I thought I heard. Then I shook my head and snorted. _Yeah, right! _"Thanks, but you're the only who thinks that. If my voice was really perfect," I stumbled over that word a bit. I had...issues with that word. "Than I would have a job," I told him matter of factly, and I was unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

He studied my face. "What's your name?"

I had no reason to tell this perfect stranger my name. But...he hadn't hurt me, right? He said my voice was perfect. _Who cares. _"Bella Swan."  
He smiled a bit. It was nice. "I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

_Edward. _I repeated his voice mentally and smiled a bit as well, for reasons I didn't completely understand.

"How old are you?" he went on to ask.

I bit my lip again. _Damn. _Of course _that _question would come up. It always came up. "Nineteen," I said, in what I hoped was a smooth voice. Nineteen was a good age. It was close to my real age, but older than eighteen, and hopefully made me sound less like a desperate kid.

He snorted. "Yeah, right."

I shot him an annoyed look. "Fine. Eighteen."

He raised his eyebrows, trying to decide if he should believe that or not. I rolled my eyes. "I'll be eighteen in two months," I admitted. I didn't know _why _I admitted it. I frowned.

He still stared at me with a strange expression, but I ignored it, wondering where this was going.

"I can get you a job," he said finally.

My head shot up to stare at him. "What? Where?"

"At the bar."

I rolled my eyes. "I tried that, remember? Your boss," I spit out the word, remembering the annoying blond guy. "made it pretty clear he didn't want to hire me."

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Newton's an idiot. But he does listen to me, every so often. And once he hears you sing...well, even he isn't dumb enough to pass up a voice like yours."

I didn't see where that helped me. His boss...Newton...didn't even get a chance to hear my voice. He seemed to have it figured out though. "Well...I'm willing to give it a shot," I told him. It came right down too...I needed a job. And I needed it now.

"Come to the bar tomorrow night. Around the same time you did tonight. I'll make sure you get a chance to sing," he assured me confidently.

I nodded. "I'll be there," I promised, and I smiled, because for the first time in a while, I had some hope. Even if it was putting my trust in a complete stranger...I was too far gone to get picky about where my hope came from at this point.

He sucked in a deep breath, and he looked unsure...of whether I would actually show up? I couldn't imagine why it would really matter to him. "I'll be there," I repeated. "I'll see you this time tomorrow....Edward." His name sounded foreign to me.

He nodded, and he smiled back. His smile was...dazzling. He had perfect white teeth, and his smile was a just a bit crooked... My knees actually felt a little weak. Inwardly I rolled my eyes at myself. _He's too old for you Bella! Not that he's going to be interested in some poor 17 year old who's pretty messed up to begin with. _

"Good night, Bella," he said to me, still smiling. And then he turned and walked away, back down the alley.

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And there it is. Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed.


	3. Promise Filled Evenings

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

It's short.  
But next chapter we learn more about Bella.

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Chapter Three.

Edward's pov.

I was a nervous wreck, as I sat there, playing the piano like I did every night. Nothing was different, nothing _should _be different, but I couldn't sit still, and I couldn't focus on the piano long enough to play anything but the pop crap that Mike liked me to play so much.

As irrational-and probably wrong-as it was, I was excited about seeing Bella. And nervous that she wouldn't show up at the bar tonight to sing. I tried to convince myself that I just wanted to hear her sing again. Her voice had haunted me the rest of the night, and all day. I tried to shut my eyes and hear her angel voice again. I needed to hear her again.

I couldn't say that I was intrigued a bit by the owner of the voice as well. She was only a child-and a naive one at that, but there was something about her that set her apart from most people, especially woman that I knew.

I remembered how she young she had looked last night in the moonlight of the alley, her pale skin glowing, her face still round with youth, the way she had chewed on her lip while tried to decided whether I was telling her the truth last night, that I wasn't there a threat to her.

She had waved my praise off without a seconds hesitation, shaking her head in disbelief. I couldn't imagine that someone that possessed a talent like that wouldn't be completely aware of how good they were, but apparently it was possible-she had seemed completely sincere in her disbelief.

She did seem to be in desperate need of a job-which made me wonder about her parents and where they were-and that helped reassure me that she actually would show up. I wasn't sure why I had offered to help her, maybe because she looked so young and desperate, but I was sure it had also been selfish-I wanted to hear her again. Mike was right-we didn't _need _singer here. But something about the idea of playing the piano every night along with Bella's voice was too tempting not to pass up.

As we approached the last call, I found myself even more anxious.

_What if she doesn't show up?_

It was ridiculous to worry about it. If she didn't show up, she didn't show up. Simple as that. I had talked to her once, heard her sing once, it wasn't like I knew enough to miss her, or anything ridiculous like that.

So I wasn't entirely sure why I felt a wave of relief when I saw her walk into the bar. Her brown hair was down, falling down around her shoulders in chocolate colored waves. Her brown eyes darted around the bar, looking for me. Our eyes met and she smiled at me. Her eyes held a question-do I have a chance?

I nodded to her, motioning for her to wait a second. She nodded, and lingered in the doorway.

I finished the song I was playing, and got up, going over to where Mike was talking to some plastic looking blond woman. "Mike."

He barely glanced in my direction. "Go away, Cullen."

"I need to talk to you."

He tore his eyes to me, glaring in an attempt to look intimidating.

I smirked. "I have someone here that I want you to meet. I know you keep saying we don't need a singer-I agree. But I found this girl with this voice..." I lowered my tone a bit. "She's _amazing. _Just let her sing, Mike. See what you think. What everyone thinks. If you don't think she's good enough, I'll tell her for you, and that'll be the end of it. But just listen to her."

He stared at me for a minute-probably still annoyed about being torn away from the blond-and then finally nodded. "Yeah, fine. Just make it quick."

I nodded, and turned to where Bella was still standing, and motioned for her to come over. She walked over, timidly, to my side.

Mike's eyes slid over her, and he raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you come here yesterday?"

She raised her chin up. "Yep."

"Just let her sing," I reminded him.

He ran a hand through his blond hair, looked from Bella, to me, and back to Bella, and nodded. "Go for it, kid."

Bella's face lit up into a huge smile.

"I can play for you, if you want music," I offered.

"Thanks," she said, still smiling. I walked with her to the stage of sorts, and moved my microphone for her. She adjusted it to her height, and I sat down on the piano.

"What do you want to sing?" I asked her. She listed off a song-one that was a particular favorite of mine, which made me smile-and I nodded, moving my fingers over the key, easing into the song.

She started quietly, looking a bit uneasy, her eyes focusing on something on the wall, rather than on any of the people there, who, as her voice started to fill the room, turned their heads to look at her.

I nodded in encouragement to her-she had nothing to be nervous about, and she seemed to realize that the people were staring at her because they _liked _what they heard. As she started to sing the chorus, her voice came clearer, stronger. She stood up taller, more confident, even moving around a bit, in time to the music. Her voice was every bit as amazing as it had been last night.

Everyone was watching her now, smiles spreading over their faces, some looking at her incredulously-such a strong perfect voice coming out of such a small, young girl. Even Mike was staring at her, a little open-mouthed.

When she finished the song, she was grinning, and she murmured a thank you into the microphone, coming over to me.

"That was amazing," I told her truthfully.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Thank you, Edward. For getting me this chance. No matter what happens, it means a lot to me."

I smiled back at her.

Mike came over to us, and he looked at Bella with a new appreciation. "Well, uh..."

"Bella," she supplied cheerfully.

"Bella. We really don't _need _a singer, and we can't really pay a whole lot, but...I can't afford _not _to hire you. So...you have a job, as long as you still want it."

"I do. Thank you," she said, quickly. She looked relieved.

"Come here every night at eight. You sing with Cullen until the bar closes."

"Okay," she agreed.

"Be here tomorrow," he ordered, before walking away, probably back to the plastic blond.

To my surprise, as Mike turned away, Bella turned to me, throwing her arms around my waist. "Thank you so much!"

I smiled, putting one arm around her tiny waist. "It was nothing."

She pulled back. "No, it means a lot. I really needed this job. I couldn't have gotten it without you." She ran a hand through her hair and smiled at me. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, I guess."

I nodded. "Yep. We can go over some songs and stuff when you get there tomorrow-we'll have some time to kill before the place fills up."

"Sounds good," she agreed.

"Do you, uh...need someone to walk you home? If you live in that neighborhood," I thought back to last night, "it's pretty unsafe."

She smiled "Thanks, but I'm okay. I'll see you tomorrow," she said again, before shooting me a smile and walking away.


	4. As Long As You're Looking Back

Finally a new chapter! I definitely didn't mean for it to take this long. I had about five chapters of this written, which I lost all of when my old computer crashed. I had a really difficult time getting this started, but I did, finally, and I am really happy with how this chapter turned out. I also wrote out an outline, so hopefully that'll help with getting the rest written faster. This isn't going to be a very long fic, either. It's looking about fifteen chapters or so. And go listen to As Long As You're Looking Back. It's an amazing song [by an amazing artist] and it'll help with the visuals with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Songs mentioned in this Chapter:

As Long As You're Looking Back - Gary Allan.  
Use Somebody - Kings Of Leon.  
Ignorance - Paramore.  
September - Daughtry.  
Stop And Stare - OneRepublic.  
Lost - Faith Hill.

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Chapter Four.

Bella.

I woke up that morning-well afternoon-in an amazingly mood as the night before came flooding back to me. I had a job.

I grinned to myself, because I had done exactly what everyone had been sure I wouldn't be able to do. I had a job-a job I had gotten with my voice-and I was going to be making money doing what I loved more than anything; singing.  
A large part of me wanted to call my parents and tell them that they were wrong, but I had no real interest in talking to them-or listening to them telling me I was wrong, or trying to convince me to come home, so I decided against it. They'd find out I had a job when I didn't come home a failure like they expected.

I was doing fine here in the city. Lying about my age I had managed to get my apartment. It was a small apartment in a bad part of town and my landlord was kind of pervy, but the apartment was clean, and it wasn't like I spent much time there anyway. And it was cheap. And now that I had a job I would be able to pay it no problem, securing that I could stay in the city.

And every night I would get to go to the bar and sing.

I made myself dinner, because yeah, I did sleep in that late. I mean, I didn't get home till four am, and since I didn't work till eight, I had nothing to do all day anyway. I could cook pretty well, which I was grateful for because I buy food and stretch it pretty far, instead of eating out all the time. I ate dinner in my kitchen, listening to the radio, scribbling in my notebook between bites of my pasta.

I didn't write down anything in particular, really. Random lyrics that I came up with, and wrote down in hopes that someday they'd all come together into a song. I wrote down songs that I wanted to sing at the bar, and songs that I wanted to practice. As I jotted down some of the songs I heard on the radio I wondered if Edward knew how to play these. I should probably ask him if we should get together and talk about the songs to play. I wrote that down too.

Once I had finished dinner and filled up a page in my notebook I went into my closet and looked around. I had a really big closet for an apartment, and not very many clothes to fill it up.

I had a lot of stuff like skinny jeans and band t-shirts, but I was trying to convince people that I was older, and to be taken seriously, and that didn't seem to be the way to do it. So I grabbed a dark red dress that I had always liked a lot. It was modest, but showed off a little bit of skin, and the color worked well with my brown hair and pale skin. I slipped it on, glancing at myself in the mirror. I liked my reflection so I went into the bathroom and applied a little bit of makeup.

I took my hair down from the bun I had put it in last night, and it fell in messy waves around my shoulders. Paired with my smokey eyes it made me look a couple years older at least. I smiled, and headed back into living room/dining room/bed room, and put on my black converse, and my big black purse, sticking my note book into it and heading out into the city.

Edward had told me that he usually got to the bar early so he could warm up, and I figured I would too. Partly due to having nothing better to do, and I wanted to talk about songs with him anyway.

He was there when I arrived-the bouncer, a tall guy with thick muscles, blond hair and a couple tattoos peeking out under his shirt sleeves, James, let me when I told him I was the new singer.

Edward was sitting at his piano, his fingers running over the keys, and I was struck once again at how good he was it. He really was talented.

"Hey," I said, walking over to him.

He looked up, and smiled when he saw that it was me. "Hey."

I smiled back, plopping my bag down on his piano, and glancing at his face to see if that would annoy him. It didn't.

"What's up?" He asked, moving over on his bench so I could sit down beside him. I did, smiling to myself.

"I was thinking...we should talk about songs."

He nodded in agreement. "I was thinking that too. You have some in mind?"

I nodded, reaching into my bag and pulling out my notebook. I flipped to the newest page and folded the cover back, showing the page to Edward.

His green eyes searched the page, but he made no comment.

I chewed on my lip as I realized that I had lyrics and notes all over that page. They all felt suddenly private, and my cheeks heated at the idea of him reading them. "Uh, we don't have to play some of them-or any of them-if you don't want too." I was surprised to hear myself giving in so easily, but he was the piano player, he had been here a _lot _longer than me, and he was the reason I got this job.

"No, no," he said quickly. "It's great. I really like some of these songs. This one though," he said, pointing to the third one on the list. "_As Long As You're Looking Back. _I've never heard it before."

"Oh. That's one of my favorites," I confessed.

He looked up at me, and smiled. "Sing it."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

He chuckled. "Sing it for me. I want to hear it."

"Er, okay," I said, wondering why I felt so flustered around him. "Do you have a guitar?"

It was his turn to look surprised. "You play?"

I nodded. "Yep, I taught myself a few years ago. I'm not great, but I like being able to accompany myself."

He smiled, and stood up, grabbing one of the guitars leaning against the wall, and bringing it over to me. I took it from him, checking to see if it was tuned.

I started strumming into the song, trying to remember the music as best as I could.

_Got your feet wet. _

_Got your Heart broke._

_Didn't pan out._

_Like you hoped. _

My voice was low, and a little haunting, I hoped.

_But you played fair._

_And you swear that love had the damn deck stacked._

_And you just wanna put it all behind you. _

_But you sit and dwell on the past._

_Oh can't you see, you can't see tomorrow._

_As long as you're looking back._

Edward's green eyes were watching me. They grew darker with intensity as he listened to me.

_You had someone._

_You could count on._

_You believed in._

_Bet your life on._

_But your back turned._

_And the knife fell._

_And you swear that payback is gonna be hell._

This was the kind of song, the kind of music, that suited my voice the best. My fingers strummed against the guitar, and I just felt happy. I loved music. I loved singing. I didn't care who heard-or didn't hear me. I just wanted to sing.

Edward.

_Now you can't trust anybody._

_Cuz a friend was just a snake in the grass._

_Boy can't you see, you can't see tomorrow._

_As long as you're looking back._

Bella sat on my piano bench beside me, her fingers strumming on one of the guitars that had been sitting on the side of the stage for months, singing a song that I had never heard before, but instantly loved. The song was dark, but hopeful at the same time, and her voice. Oh, her voice. It was low and dark, and hauntingly beautiful.

I couldn't help but just stare at her and listen.

_You can't move on._

_Til you let go of what's gone._

_Now you can't trust anybody._

_Cuz a friend was just a snake in the grass._

_Boy can't you see, you can't see tomorrow._

_As long as you're looking back._

She didn't look at me while she sang, she looked forward. Her brown eyes were dark, her face full of the same emotion her voice held.

_Got your feet wet._

_Got your heart broke._

_Didn't pan out like you hoped._

She finished the last line, and the last note, and looked up at me, smiling.

"Wow," was all I could say.

She raised an eyebrow. "So you liked the song?"

_I like you and your voice. _"Yeah, I did."

She smiled. "Maybe I can teach you to play it? Or just give you the song and you can learn? I'd love to do it here at the bar."

Her playing it in front of an audience was a fantastic idea. I agreed that I would definitely learn the song, and she smiled at me, a huge smile, like I'd just made her day or something.

She set the gutiar aside then, and we went over the rest of the songs. A lot of the songs were popular songs on the radio now, which was good, because that's what Mike liked us to play. She had a few old rock songs, too, and even a few country songs-like the one she had just sang to me, and I couldn't help but be impressed that she liked so many genres, and I was willing to bet my prize piano at home that she could sing them all like a pro. I couldn't imagine a song she couldn't sing.

I added in a few songs that I liked to play, and we finally got a set list figured out. We agreed that we would mostly stick to it, at least for a few months, but we'd change up a few songs every couple of days. We had just gotten it all wrapped up when the first people started coming into the bar. Most of the people this early were people still in their business suits, straight from work. People that had had a hard day at work and just wanted to have a few-or a lot.

We praticed a few songs, ones that I didn't know as well, and a few that she didn't really know either. She really started singing around ten though, when all the people coming out to hang out with their friends arrived.

This was my first time really seeing Bella perform, and she was already a pro at it. She greeted the crowd, introduced herself, and to my surprise, me as well. She joked around a little bit, and asked if people were ready to have a good time.

I was surprised to see that she interacted with a crowd so well.

She jumped right into it, singing _Use Somebody, _and switching right into _Ignorance. _She had been amazing singing slower, darker songs, but the girl could rock too. She went right out there, belting out the lyrics and moving around the stage like she'd been doing this her entire life.

The crowd was really getting into it too.

She sang a couple more rock/fast songs, asking for requests and singing a few of them. She sang _September, _and _Stop And Stare. _She sang_ Lost, _and then took more requests.

We took a break finally, and I told her how great she was doing, and she smiled at me and took a long drink of water. Her skin was glistening with sweat, and she leaned against my piano, grateful for the break. We didn't really talk, because I knew she wanted to save her voice.

When the break was over, though, she went right back out there and didn't seem tired anymore. She finally finished the show before last call, with that song she had sang earlier, _As Long As You're Looking Back, _which I let her do solo with her guitar.

She came off stage with a huge grin.

"Ready to do that every night?" I asked, smiling back at her.

"Definitely!" she said, with a laugh. Her face was bright and happy, and there was just something so joyful and innocent about her. She wasn't doing this because she wanted to be famous, or to make money. She just _loved _music. She really _loved _singing. It reminded me, a younger me. The guy who hadn't been considering going back to law school and giving music up. Nope, the guy I had been, the one that just _loved _music. Playing with her, for the first time in a while, I _felt _that again. Seeing her, listening to her sing, it reminded me why I did it, even if i was practically broke, and spending all my nights singing in a smoky, crowded bar.

I reached out and gave her a side hug, putting my arm around her tiny shoulders. "Thank you."

She looked up at me in surprise. "For what?"

I shrugged and smiled. "You'll understand someday."

She looked at me like I was crazy, and I just smiled. "You leaving now?"

She nodded. "Yep," she grabbed that big black purse of hers, and checked to make sure her notebook was in it.

"Want me to walk you home?" cause I still hated the thought of her walking alone in that part of town.

She smiled, and shook her head. "Thanks, Edward, but I'll be okay. See you tomorrow."


	5. As Much As She Stumbles

Whoa, shocking, right? Two updates this close to each other. But once I got past that block I spent the last two nights writing out a ton for this! The rest of the updates won't be this quick, but they'll definitely be more frequent.

Songs Mentioned:  
Guinevere - Eli Young Band.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

* * *

Chapter Five.

Edward.

Working at a bar usually meant that I slept in late during the day. I didn't get home till four am, usually, so I tried to get as much sleep as I could. This morning I couldn't sleep though. The light pouring in through my windows was way too bright, and I laid in bed, trying to get a little bit more sleep. After a few minutes I finally gave up though, and got up.

Everyone was at work, so I made myself a bagel for breakfast and ate before getting into the shower and changing into some jeans and a black shirt.

I had nothing to do all day, so I did what I usually did on days like these. I went to the park.

Mom used to take me and my little sister Alice to the park all the time when we were kids. We would play on the old playground set and then she'd usually buy us hot dogs or ice cream or something, and we'd sit at the big fountain in the middle of the park and listen to all the people playing music.

For some reason when I thought about my first memories of music-and I had been playing piano for a very long time-one of the first things that came to mind was the park and the people playing.

I had played out there a couple times, with a guitar. Not really for money or anything, but just to play. I didn't really do that much anymore, but I did go out there and listen today.

I got to the park and headed to the fountain. It was a Saturday, so the place was packed. I made my way through the crowd so I could sit on the edge of the fountain.

_She's got a bumper like a billboard._

_Covered in stickers of her favorite bands._

_She's got a handful of records that she turns to when she's sad._

_She's a Saturday night parade through the streets._

_That all eyes see including me._

I would have known that voice anywhere. I searched around, and finally saw her. She was sitting at the fountain, playing a really beat up looking guitar. She looked different than she did at the bar, more like she had the night I met her. She was wearing jeans that had holes in them, and a black tank top. Her hair was loose and fell in waves. She didn't have any make up on. She looked so much young. Like a kid.

_She carries memories around like souvenirs down in her pockets._

_She should have let some go by now but she can't seem to drop it._

_says forgiveness ain't nothing but a lifeless tire on the shoulder of her soul._

_That never rolls._

She sounded just as amazing, though, of course. Everyone else seemed to think so too, because she had a huge crowd around her. And everyone that was listening to her had a smile on their face. A few people came forward to put some money into her guitar case and she just smiled. I knew that smile. You didn't care that it was money, just that someone thought you were good.

_For as much as she stumbles she's running._

_For as much as she runs she's still here._

_Always hoping to find something quicker than heaven._

_To make the damage of her days disappear._

_Just like Guinevere. _

I came to stand in the crowd around her.

_She don't hold onto nothing new for very long._

_Yeah she writes you in as just one more tale._

_And then you're gone. _

_Cause she once fell hard cause she dropped her guard._

_And no one gets to stay, it's just too late._

_For as much as she stumbles she's running._

_For as much as she runs she's still here._

_Always hoping to find something quicker than heaven._

She finished the song, her face breaking into a smile.

Everyone clapped, including me, and a bunch of people tossed some money into her case before walking away, the rest stood, waiting to see if she'd play another song. She didn't, though, instead she thanked everyone, and took the guitar strap away off of her neck, and set it down into the case.

Some people came up to her and talked to her a moment. One tiny little blond girl came up to her with wide blue eyes. "You're so good!"

Bella grinned. "Thank you! Do you like to sing?"

The girl nodded. "I love it. I want to be as good as you some day."

"I'm sure you will be. Just keep singing," she encouraged.

"I will!" the little girl promised, before running back over to her waiting parents.

"Wow," I smiled, coming over to her.

She looked up at me, surprised. "Edward! What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "I come to listen to the music, sometimes. I didn't expect to see you here. Singing every night isn't enough for you?" I teased.

She blushed a little, and smiled. "Nope, it's not."

I smiled back at her, because I was glad to hear that she was doing this for fun and not because she needed money. I was 99% sure that she was on her own, and that worried me a lot. I mean, she was only seventeen, after all.

"Are you done singing?" I asked her.

She nodded, locking her guitar case. "Yes."

"Want to get some ice cream, then? My treat."

She laughed. "Well, how can I say no to that."

I grinned, and started walking towards one of the stands nearby. She was hauling that case, that was as big as she was, and I smiled and took it from her.

She watched me, and I thought for a second she was going to argue, but finally she just murmured a thank you.

I ordered a hot fudge sundae, and she ordered a plain chocolate cone.

"Boring," I teased. We sat down on one of the benches that looked out on the fountain.

She slapped my shoulder playfully. "It's a _classic. _Don't knock it," she chided.

"Sorry," I laughed, and she rolled her eyes at me, biting into her ice cream.

"Thank you, by the way."

I nodded. "Anytime."

"Do you sing here often?" I asked, after a few minutes.

She shrugged. "When I'm bored, mostly. Aside from work I don't really have much to do, and I hate spending time inside, so I come here. Sometimes I just write, other times I sing."  
"You write songs?" I asked. I thought back to that notebook she'd been carrying around the whole week at work, and how she scribbled stuff in it all the time. I had noticed the lyrics written in it, but I guess I had assumed it was songs that she liked, not things that she had written. I wished I could remember what some of them had been. I'd have to pay more attention next time she showed me the book.

She nodded. "Yeah. Well, I write lyrics. I think of stuff all the time, but I usually can't get it all to fit together into a song," she frowned, thoughtfully. "I'd love to write my own stuff, though."

"I write too," I told her.

She looked up at me with interest. "Really."

"Yeah. Not lyrics though, usually. Just the music."

"Ah, a composer," she grinned up at me.

I smiled. "Something like that."

"Play me something sometime?" She asked me, making a sweet face at me.

"If you'll sing me something you wrote."

She frowned. "I only have a few things I actually wrote..." she protested.

"A deals a deal," I insisted, causing her to roll her eyes at me again.

"Fine. You'd better not make fun of me when I do it though."

I couldn't imagine making fun of her, but I just smiled and nodded.

"Where are you from, Bella?" I asked, changing the subject.

She looked surprised. "Oh, er...Washington."

I raised an eyebrow. "I figured that much."

She squirmed. "Just a small town."

I frowned. Why didn't she want to tell me the name?

"Where are you from?" she asked quickly, turning the question back at me.

"Here. Seattle," I told her.

She nodded. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-four." I felt suddenly aware that I was seven years older than her.

Her face dipped into a frown for a second, but she recovered quickly. "How long have you played piano?"

I wondered briefly she was just asking me questions so I couldn't ask her any. "I'm not sure. I was very little when I started playing. I started lessons at seven, though. I could already play a bit by then."

"I've been singing my whole life, I guess. I didn't really start _singing _until I was thirteen. One of my friends entered me into a talent show, and I sang for it, because it was all I could think of doing. And I had a blast doing it. And a lot of people told me I was really good. And I guess that was enough for me. I just went from there," she trailed off, looking down at her ice cream, which was starting to melt over the cone.

It didn't escape my notice that she didn't say how she had ended up here, but it was obviously better not to ask about it.

I changed into the subject into asking about her favorite bands, and we spent the afternoon in the park, on that bench, talking.

Bella.

I loved the park in Seattle. It wasn't like anything we had in Forks. It was big and green, with a huge fountain the middle of it. The type that I had thrown quarters into for wishes when I was a little kid. It had food vendors, and people playing music. Little kids playing, couples walking together, adults jogging, seniors enjoying the weather, and people playing music. It was busy and peaceful, and I loved it.

I had played here a few times when I had first gotten to Seattle. Not really for the money-I hadn't really made much anyway-just to be able to play, and just to be here in the park.

This morning when I had woken up, I had had nothing to do, and the sun was shinning, so I grabbed my really beat up guitar that I had gotten second hand when I was thirteen, and headed out to the park.

I sat down on the stone edge of the big fountain, and started playing. I played a couple songs, just whatever popped in my head. After a while I realized that people were stopping, standing to watch me play.

I didn't usually have a crowd, just passerbys who stopped for a few minutes. But these people were actually stopping to listen for the whole song, and the next one. After one song, a man came up to me, and asked if he had heard me play before.

I shrugged, and smiled. "I don't know. I play at Newton's bar, every night."

He nodded. "Right! I knew I'd heard you before. You look different, out here, but I couldn't forget that voice. You're the only reason I go to that bar," He told me, with a wink, before throwing a couple dollars into my case and walking away before I could reply to him.

After I'd played five songs I called it a day, and a little blond girl who couldn't have been more than six, maybe seven, came up to me, and told me that she hoped she could sing as good as me someday. My heart swelled at the praise, and I smiled at the girl and told her to stick with it, and she smiled big enough to show me that she was missing two top teeth, before running back to her mother.

It had been a great day playing.

And then Edward had showed up, and bought me ice cream. The two of us spent all day playing together in the park. We had been getting along fantastically. Who knew that the guy that I had met in the middle of an alley in the middle of the night would end up being such an amazing friend, and such an amazing person. We liked the same music, and we had the same passion for it.

But today, as we sat there on that bench overlooking the fountain, and talked about other stuff, like were we came from, and even though I didn't want to tell him how I had ended up here, it was one of the best days I had spent since I had gotten to Seattle.

I would never forget it. Probably because that's the day I realized I definitely had a crush on Edward Cullen.

* * *

Thanks so much to everyone that reviews/favorited/alerted!!


	6. Walk Me Home

Long chapter, and it covers a lot, I think. It's a bit cliche, the usual chapter in Twilight fanfiction, but well, it seemed like a good way to get this thing rolling.

If you're wondering...Bella is generally singing the song I'm listening to when I write. There's no real reason, and they don't really relate to the chapter.

Song for this chapter: The House That Built Me - Miranda Lambert. [It makes me cry. Every time.]

Thanks so much to everyone that has reviewed/alerted/favorited.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

* * *

Chapter Six.

Bella.

"I'm gonna sing a song I just a heard the other day. I loved it as soon as I heard it, and learned it real quick, so I could play it for you guys. It's a really amazing song, and hopefully you guys can relate to it too," I said into the microphone, looking out at the crowd at Newton's bar.

I had been playing here for a month, and the crowd was definitely larger. And people weren't just sitting at the bar getting wasted. Nope, people were sitting in the tables near the stage, listening to me and Edward, cheering us on.

I dragged a stool up to the microphone, and sat down, grabbing my guitar.

_I know they say you can't go home again._

_I just had to come back one last time._

_Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam._

_But these hand prints on the front steps are mine._

I glanced over at Edward, who was smiling at me as he watched. I had just heard and learned this song a couple of days ago, and this was the first time I had ever played it, so he didn't know it.

_Up those steps in a little back bedroom. _

_Is where I did my homework and where I learned to play guitar._

I bet you didn't know that under that live oak.

_My favorite dog is buried in that yard._

I felt my eyes sting with tears, just like when I had first heard the song. I thought about Forks, the big white house I had grown up in. I thought about my room just off the stairs, the big tree with the swing that I had played on, and my old dog, Sammy, that had died when I was eleven.

_I thought if I could touch this place, or feel it._

_This brokenness in me might start healing._

_Out here it's like I'm someone else._

_I thought that maybe I could find myself._

_If I could just come in, I'll swear I'll leave,_

_Won't take nothing. But a memory._

_From a house that built me._

I strummed fingers over the strings, glancing at Edward again, who was watching me with an intense expression. I decided against trying to figure out what it meant. After realizing that I had a huge crush on him, I tended to overanlyze everything.

But truth was, Edward wasn't interested in me. I knew that. He was twenty four. He didn't want a seventeen year old kid who was living on her own and had to lie about her age to get a job. He was an adult, and for all I knew he had a girlfriend. It's not like I had ever asked.

I sang the next verse, and the chorus again twice.

_The house that built me._

When the song ended I closed the show as usual, and everyone clapped as I got off stage. I walked straight over to Edward, who hugged me like he always did after a show. "You did great," he told me. "That new song, it was great."

"Thanks," I told him, smiling. I took the bottle of water he offered me and took a long drink. I set it back down. "You did great too." My last word was cut off with a big yawn.

"Somebody is tired," he observed.

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I should probably get home."

He nodded in agreement. "Want me to walk you home?" He asked, like clockwork.

I grinned at him, and shook my head, listing off my usual answer. "Thanks, but I'll be okay." I actually wouldn't have minded the extra time with Edward, but I didn't really want him to see where I lived. Living in a grungy looking old apartment building in a bad part of town would probably lead to questions about how I ended up there, and I just really didn't want to talk about it. So I declined every night when he asked.

And he never gave up.

I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I was dressing more casually for shows these days. It had been fun dressing up for the first week or so, but now it was just part of my day. I was wearing dark skinny jeans and a plain green tank top, and green converse. I felt more like myself this way, anyway.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said to Edward, and he nodded.

"Yep. Sweet dreams, Bella," he said, smiling. I loved watching Edward smile. He had this crooked smile, that, being honest, made my knees a little weak.

I said goodbye to Mike and headed in the direction of home.

I was used to my walk home by this point, that doesn't mean it still didn't creep me out a little. I wasn't a person who worried about every possibility, but well, it was a really bad part of town, and it was very late at night.

I took the brightest lit streets as possible, but there was that one alley-the one that I had met Edward in-that I had to walk through to get to my apartment building. I headed down it, clutching my bag closer to me, and hoping to get past it fast.

I only got a few steps down the alley before I heard voices behind me.

"Well look what we've got here."

My blood ran cold, my heart thudded in my chest, echoing deafeningly in my ears. I turned slowly. I wasn't sure why I turned. Maybe I thought I was imagining things, I don't know. I wasn't, however. There was a tall man, dressed in all black, with blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, tattoos showing under his shirt sleeves. He had steely blue eyes, and his lips curved into a smirk.

_A predator._

_And I'm his prey._

"I need to-" I wasn't sure why or _how _I spoke, but I did, stumbling backwards. Yeah, I'm an idiot. I should have ran as soon as I heard his voice. He probably ran after me anyway, but it was better than standing here in this alley staring at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"You need to what?" his voice was surprisingly smooth and charming. "Leave? Why would you want to do that, honey? The fun is just beginning." He walked towards me.

I stumbled back again, and hit the brick wall. He came forward, and he was standing between me and my escape. I started to scream, but he put his hand over my mouth. "Now, you wouldn't want to do that," He chided easily. He ran a finger down my cheek, with his other hand. It kept moving down, to my stomach, where he reached for the hem of my shirt. He hesitated there, leaning close to my ear. "Keep it quiet, and you'll be all right. Understand?"

Everything was moving in slow motion, and it was like I was completely frozen. When he spoke though, it woke me up. I was about to tell him to get lost, kick him and run for it, but his hand moved from my mouth, and then something pressed against my neck. It was cold and smooth, and sharp. He had a knife.

My stomach plummeted. I nodded slowly, and he smiled, taking the knife back, and pulling my shirt over my head. His eyes leered at my chest, as he discarded my shirt in a pile on the concrete ground.

I couldn't believe what was happening.

I couldn't believe that I had to just let it happen.

I felt the blade against my neck again, pressing just a little bit against my skin. The pressure made it hard for me to breathe. I shut my eyes and just tried to breathe.

"Hey!"

My eyes popped open, at the sound of someone else's voice.

_Please, please, help. _

The voice came forward, and before I knew what was happening he crashed into my attacker. I stumbled forward, trying to run. The attack reached an arm out and tripped me, knocking me hard to the ground. My head crashed into the concrete and I groaned in pain.

I could hear them wrestling. But he had a knife. He would win. And he'd come back and finish me off too. I tried to get up, but my head spun, the world spinning around me. Everything went fuzzy and dark.

Edward.

I walked home by myself after the show. Bella declined my offer to walk her home, as always. I hated the thought of her walking out here in the city by herself, but every night she told me the same thing.

I walked past the alley we had met at it, and then I heard something strange. Someone...whimpering? I turned back, turning to peer down the alley. There was some guy, dressed in all back, pressing a girl up against the wall. She wasn't wearing a shirt, her pale stomach bright in the dark light. Then I saw his hand pressed up against her neck.

"Hey!" I called out, and ran forward. He had a knife, so it was probably best that I caught him off guard. I knocked him away from her, wrestling him to the ground. I saw her try to run past us, and he stuck his arm out, tripping her to the ground. She hit the ground hard, you could hear it, and she let out a loud groan of pain.

I grabbed the knife from the guy and pulled it away from him, throwing it as far away as I could, given the situation, and then I laid my fists into him. We fought and wrestled, hitting the wall, and the dumpster pushed into the alley. I punched him again, and he fell back into the dumpster hard, hitting his head. And then he went out cold.

I shot up to my feet quickly, running over to the girl. My heart started pounding when I looked down and saw who it was.

_Bella._

"Oh, Bella," I mumbled. Her hair was tangled and messy, a small but long mark on her neck, probably from that knife, and her stomach bare. I kneeled down beside her, and touched her shoulder. "Bella? Bella? Please, Bella, wake up," I begged.

She jerked in surrpise, and her eyes opened, looking up at me. "Edward?" she asked confused.

"Are you okay? does your head hurt?"

She nodded, sitting up and moaning. I caught her, and pulled her against me, moving my fingers over her head carefully. There was a huge bump there, and a cut that was hot and sticky with blood. I searched the ground and saw a rock that was covered her in her blood. The cut didn't seem very deep though.

"Just breathe, okay? You're going to be fine," I promised her.

She nodded, and she visibly breathed in and out.

"Let's try to stand up, okay?" I got to my feet, helping her up with me.

"I'm okay. The dizziness is fading," she told me.

I nodded, glad for that. "Stay there for a second," I told her, spotting the green shirt she had been wearing. I picked it up off the ground, and brought it over to her, helping her get it over her head. She tugged into place. Her eyes focused on me, and she lifted a hand to touch my face. "Oh, Edward."

He had gotten in a few good punches. I probably looked terrible.

"I'm fine, Bella, it's nothing. Let's just focus on you and getting you home."

"I live just over there," she said, pointing towards the other end of the alley. I put my arm around her, because I was still worried about her getting dizzy or blacking out or something, and she guided me to a three story apartment building. It was old looking, and looked kind of dirty, but I made no comment. She unlocked the door to get us in. She lived on the third flood of course, and we took the stairs slowly. Bella hadn't said anything, other than to tell me where to go. She seemed to be in shock about everything that just happened.

She stopped at her door, and unlocked it, opening the door. It was a little apartment, one bedroom, but it was surprisingly clean. It was so...unlived in, though. there was a bed, a pile of books beside it, her guitar, and a pile of CD's. Aside from a few other things, that's all that was in it.

I lead her into the kitchen. She climbed up onto the counter. I looked around the kitchen, finding a towel, and getting it damp. I washed the blood off of her head-it had stopped bleeding, thankfully.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I'm okay. Just have a headache. I mostly just want to sleep."

"I think you have a concussion, Bella. It's probably better if you don't."

Her face fell. "Seriously?" she sighed.

"Sorry," I said, offering a sympathetic smile.

She shrugged. "I don't know how I'm going to stay up all night."

"Well...I could still stay with you, if you want. Make sure you don't fall asleep."

Her brown eyes searched my face. "You'd do that? I mean, you don't have too."

"I will if you want me too," I told her, honestly.

Finally she nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Edward." She jumped down from the counter, and I reached an arm out instinctively to grab her in case she wobbled.

"If you don't mind though, I'm gonna go take a shower, real quick," she said, and I nodded in understanding. "Unfortunately there's not really anything for you to do here. I have plenty of books, and music, but I don't have a TV or anything."

"Bella, it's fine. Don't worry about me. Just go take your shower."

She bit her lip, and nodded, heading towards the back of the apartment.

I wondered over to the stack of books, scanning over the titles. I was surprised at what I found. Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. The classics. Not what I would have expected from any teenage girl. I left the books and went over to the towering stacks of CD's. There was everything from country to heavy rock. A lot of eighties rock, a lot of today's rock, and even a couple of rap CD's. Yes, Bella definitely had a wide taste when it came to music.

Bella was never what I expected, that was for sure.

Alice, my sister was only a couple of years older than Bella. She had been what I'd expected a teenage girl to be. She loved the colors pink and purple, she had sleepovers and painted her nails, and listened to rap music and boy bands, and spent all of her extra time and money shopping.

Bella was nothing like that. It was hard to remember she was only seventeen.

I was still looking through the CD's when Bella got out of the shower. She had changed into a pair of short black shorts and a white v-neck that was a size to big, her hair wet and loose. She smiled when she saw me, and it almost looked like she was surprised.

"Feel better?" I asked, smiling back at her.

"Definitely," she told me, sounding more awake. "Hey, do you want something to eat? I can cook something, or if you want, we can just eat ice cream. I've got plenty."

_There _she sounded more like a teenager, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Either one is fine. Whatever you want."

"Well I want the ice cream," she said, as if it were obvious. She walked into her tiny kitchen and opened the freezer, pulling out two cartons of ice cream. "Chocolate? Or Moose tracks?"

"What is moose tracks?" I asked, frowning.

She laughed at me. "Seriously? It's vanilla ice cream with fudge and peanut butter cups. It's fantastic. You've really never heard of it?"

I shook my head. "Nope, never."

"I can't believe that," she said, shaking her head and making a 'tsking' sound. She had recovered, obviously. She set one of the cartons on the counter, and took the other one back to the freezer. She got two spoons out of a drawer, and sat back down on the counter, opening up the carton. "I don't have chairs, or any place to sit down," she said, a bit sheepishly.

I came to sit up on the counter beside her, and she handed me a spoon.

"How does a seventeen year old get an apartment anyway?" I had to ask.

She laughed, digging her spoon into the ice cream. "I'm eighteen, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course," I said, dryly, putting my spoon into the ice cream, too. It did look pretty...fantastic. "To be honest, I'm surprised that works."

She sucked on her spoon, and shrugged her small shoulders. "Me too, I guess. But it does. Of course here, the landlord really only cared that I had cash."

So he was that kind of person. Not really that surprisingly, considering the building and what part of town it was in. "So I guess that brings me to the burning question...why did a seventeen year old need to get an apartment?" I knew I was prying, and that I was asking for trouble. But for some reason, I was asking anyway.

She got another spoonful of the ice cream, and licked it off slowly, before answering. "Well...my parents, they were pretty supportive most of my life, I guess. I mean, after I started singing they always took me to talent shows, and auditions for stuff in the mall and all that. They never really told me I was good or anything, but they knew it as important to me, and took me even though they didn't understand.

"Last year though, in my senior year-yes, I graduted," she said, catching my curious glance. "I skipped third grade," she explained, and I nodded, letting her go on with her story.

"Anyway, last year, we started talking about colleges. I applied at all of these places that my parents wanted me too. But then I realized I didn't even know why I was doing it. I didn't want to go college. I didn't want to become a doctor or a lawyer or anything like that, like they were expecting me to do. So I thought about it a lot, and I told them I wanted to go to Seattle, or some city, for a year and try music out. If I didn't have a job that was making me enough to live off, or a record deal or something by the end of the year, I would go home and I would go to college. I mean, sounds fair, right? I didn't expect them to be excited or anything, but I wasn't expecting their reaction."

I thought about my own parents reaction when I had told them basically the same thing. I just hadn't been moving out. And I hadn't had the whole year thing. I had just said I wasn't going to college right now. They hadn't been very happy, of course, but eventually they had become supportive of the idea.

"They _freaked. _They told me they couldn't believe I was throwing my life away, that I was making such a stupid decision, and what had happened to me, and where was this coming from? I told them I always wanted to pursue music and they stared at me like I had grown another head or something." She rolled her eyes.

"I guess they thought music was just a hobby for me or something. They told me I couldn't have a career music. It just wouldn't happen. They actually told me that I was going to college, and that was it."

"So what did you do?" I asked, though I could guess. I was surprised that her parents would be that unsupportive. It almost sounded like they didn't even think their daughter had any talent when it came to music. That she _couldn't _make it. Parents were supposed to want their kids to go for their dream, right?

Bella took another spoonful of ice cream, and smiled. "I told them I was going anyway, and they told me I'd better do it on my own, and that they weren't giving me anything, money or anything, if that happened. And if I did do it, to know that they weren't going to talk to me anymore."

I stared at her. "Seriously? They'd do that over _this? _" I asked, shocked.

She nodded, her face indifferent. "Apparently it's that big of a deal to them. Anyway, I packed up some of my stuff, and asked my friend Angela to drive me up here. She stuck around long enough for me to find the apartment, which was easy, and I asked her not to tell anyone where I was, which she agreed too, and here I am."

"Bella, that's terrible. You're parents-"

She shook her head, cutting me off. "It's fine, Edward, really. I don't regret my choice at all. I'm doing fine. I'm _happy." _

"Okay," I said softly.

She shot a reassuring smile at me, and glanced down at the ice cream. "It's awesome, right? I still can't believe you'd never had it before."

And just like that the whole subject of her parents was forgotten. We ate the entire carton of ice cream, and talked the rest of the night.

* * *


	7. The Only Exception

Song For The Chapter - Only Exception by Paramore.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. The rest is all mine though.

* * *

Chapter Seven.

Bella.

After I had woken up on the street-to Edward bending over me, he had taken me home and taken care of me. The whole going to my place part was pretty fuzzy, but I do remember thinking that I had kept declining his offer to walk me home all that time because I didn't want him to see where I lived, and he had had to see it anyway. Yeah, that's pretty much just my luck.

He had taken great care of me, though, and told me that I probably had a concussion, and shouldn't sleep. And he had offered to stay the night to make sure I didn't sleep. We had spent the rest of the night eating ice cream and talking. Yeah, I had told him my whole story about how I ended up here. It wasn't really that hard, and he had taken it really well. He hadn't reacted the way I had been worried about-that I was a stupid kid who should go home or something like that. He seemed to really get it.

In the morning he had headed home to change and probably to catch a few hours of sleep since I had kept him up all night. I was feeling surprisingly awake, so I had gone to the park and played for most of the morning, and then sat around enjoying the good weather before going home and making dinner and coming to the bar to play my show.

Edward and I had learned this song a few days ago. I loved playing new stuff at the bar. I always closed with a new song.

_When I was younger, I saw my Daddy cry and curse at the wind. _

_Broke his own heart, and I watched as he tried to reassemble it._

_And my mama swore that she would never let herself forget._

_And that was the day that I promised I would never sing of love, if it didn't exist. _

I walked over to Edward's piano and sat down on the bench beside him, and he looked over at me, and smiled.

_But darling you _are _the only exception._

_You _are _the only exception._

It was hard not to stare at Edward while I sang. I mean, I knew he was older, I knew he wasn't interested in me. But I couldn't help it. Especially not after last night. I was pretty positive that I was falling in love with Edward Cullen.

_Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul that love never lasts._

_And we've got to find other ways to make it alone._

_Keep a straight face._

_I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance._

_And up till now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness._

_Because it was never worth the risk._

Edward picked his head up to look at me, his green eyes gazing at mine, as his fingers dancing over the keys. I don't know if I had ever sang a song that I felt such real emotion tied to it. It made my heart ache.

_Well you _are _the only exception._

_You _are _the only exception._

We were still gazing at each other. I couldn't look away.

_I've got a tight grip on reality. _

_But I can't let go of what's right in front of me here._

_I know you're leaving int he morning when you wake up._

_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream._

_You _are _the only exception._

_You _are _the only exception._

I was shocked when Edward sang the last line with me, so low it was hard to hear it.

_I'm on my way to believing._

I sat there, still staring at him as the music ended. Finally I remembered that was the last song, and I gave my usual thanks for listening, I'm Bella Swan, blah blah, and shot down from the stage, unsure of everything that had just happened, but feeling warm and different whatever it was.

I was about to grab my stuff and go home, because I wasn't sure what I was feeling, or what to do, but Mike walked into my path before I could.

"Hey, Bella. Great show."

"Thank you," I told him, glancing over his shoulder, where Edward was taking a drink of water, sitting in one of the seats backstage.

He held out an envelope. "Your paycheck for the week."

"Right. Thank you," I said again, taking it from him.

He ran a hand through his blond hair and smiled. "There's a bonus in there."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "Why?"

Mike laughed. "Really, Bella? Have you looked around this place the last two weeks or so?" He waved a hand in a half-circle. "We've had twice as many people here. And even though I'd love to take credit for it, for having a great bar, it's because of you."

"It is?" I asked.

"Yes, it is. People are telling other people about you, and people are coming to listen. And people keep coming back. My business has picked up a ton. You're the reason, so I'm happy to give you something. I'm lucky to have you."

"Wow. Thank you," I said again, still kind of surprised.

He chuckled. "No, thank you, kid," he said. He walked past me back to the front, stopping to pat my shoulder as he walked by.

I shook my head, unsure what to think about all of this. I walked over to Edward, who handed me a bottle of water.

"He's right, you know." He told me.

I shook my head, and drained half of the bottle.

"So what are you going to do with your bonus?" he asked.

I smiled. "Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to go shopping."

"Why can't you believe you're saying that?" Edward asked me, looking confused.

"I hate shopping," I explained, and he raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't bring very much clothes with me from home, and having a job I need nicer stuff, you know?"

He nodded, and looked at me thoughtfully. "You know, my young sister, Alice. She's a little bit older than you. Shopping is her _thing _and she'd love to go with you, if you want company."

That hadn't been what I had been expecting. I was about to decline, tell him that I was fine by myself, but it was his sister, she would probably be nice. And aside from Edward I had no friends in the city. "Uh, okay. Sounds good."

He smiled. "She'll be thrilled. When'd you want to go?"

"Tomorrow?"

"How about we meet in that little cafe down the street at ten?" He suggested.

"Uh, sure. Sounds good."

He stood up, and I did the same, grabbing my bag.

Before I could say goodbye he leaned over. "I'm walking at you home." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I almost declined, and then thought about last night and shuddered.

"Absolutely."

I walked to the cafe the next morning, arriving promptly at ten. I walked inside and looked around the cafe, spotting Edward sitting in a table near the front easily. He was sitting beside a tiny girl with long black curls, and stunning gray eyes. Alice.

"Bella!" Edward called to me, when he spotted me, waving me over to the table. I went over to the table, and he pulled out a chair for me to sit down. "Alice, this is Bella Swan, Bella, this is my sister, Alice."

"Nice to meet you, Alice," I said, smiling at the other girl.

She beamed back at me. "It's great to meet you too, Bella! Edward's told me a lot about you."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Has he?" I asked, grinning. "Good things, I hope."

"Oh, of course," Alice said, dismissively. She turned her full attention to me, then, her gray eyes studying me. "Today should be fun. You've got a great little figure, and you're already a great dresser," she decided.

I glanced down at my red low top converse, black skinny jeans and red tank top. From what Edward had told me about her last night when he walked me home, Alice rarely approved of an outfit, so I should probably be very flattered.

"Thanks?"

Beside me, Edward smirked, reaching for his coffee. He took a drink and then leaned close to my ear. "Remember. You can say no to her. It's hard, but you can do it."

I stifled a laugh, and tried to ignore him.

Alice ignored our exchange. "So I figured we'd head over to the mall, and then we'll meet at Edward at Bella Italia for an early dinner, and the three of us will head over the bar together."

"You're going to the bar?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yep. I haven't seen my big brother play in forever, and I want to hear this new singer he's been talking about. Apparently she's the best he's ever heard, which is _very _high praise coming from Edward here."

I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "The best you've ever heard?"

"Definitely," he told me, winking. He stood up. "Well I've got to go. See you guys for lunch." My heart skipped a few beats when he winked.

We chimed in our goodbyes as he left.

"Well, ready to hit the stores?" Alice asked me, taking the last drink of her hot chocolate.

I nodded, and the two of us took a taxi to the mall. She insisted that we didn't walk. Probably cause she was wearing heels.

Shopping with Alice was definitely an experience, and not one I was ready for. She dragged me from store to store, throwing things into my arms for me to try on. When my arms were full she'd drag me into a changing room, instructing me to come out so she could see everything. She gave me a lot of stuff that I would have never picked out for myself, but a lot of it did look really good on me.

I bought a ton more stuff than I had been expecting. By four o'clock when we were supposed to meet Edward, I was loaded down with bags, and so was Alice with things she had bought for herself. I had at least, talked her into letting me go into the CD store and book store, where I spent the remaining money from my bonus.

Aside from being completely exhausted from the day, I had had a great time with Alice. She was by far the bubbliest person I had ever met, and I couldn't say I had ever met someone who took shopping so seriously. She was nice and funny, and we talked about Edward. She shared some of his embarrassing stories with me from when he was little, and we laughed and gossiped about guys we saw in the mall.

We had a lot in common too, we found out through the day. We liked some of the same music, and we loved the same movies and TV shows.

She was a little older than me, at twenty, and she had a very serious boyfriend named Jasper who she hoped was going to propose to her someday soon. I couldn't imagine even having a serious boyfriend, much less one that I wanted to marry.

She was in college, an design major. She wanted to become a fashion designer. She'd be fantastic at it.

Before heading to the restaurant to eat dinner with Edward we stopped at my apartment to drop all my stuff off and so I could change since I was going to the bar right afterwards. Alice made no comment on my apartment or the fact I was living by myself, which I was grateful for.

I changed into a pair of light blue flare, low rise jeans with rips in them that Alice had said was "completely me', with a white tank top with songs lyrics on it. I wore several chain necklaces, and Alice came in to do my make up. She didn't do it that differently than I did my own, still smokey and subtle, but it looked more professional when she did it. She teased my hair, and when I looked in the mirror afterwards she assured me that I looked like a rockstar, and then dragged me off to the dinner with Edward.

He looked surprised to see me, because I did look different, even if it was subtle. The clothes weren't really that different than something I would have picked and worn on my own. He told me I looked great though, and the compliment made my heart soar.

Yeah, I was getting really pathetic.

Dinner was extremely nice. Edward and Alice were obviously close, and it was fun to watch them interact with each other. And it was just really nice to be out with people for a change. I spent too much time with myself.

After dinner the three of us headed to the bar, and I went up on stage to do what I did best. Sing.

* * *


	8. Two In the Morning

I know it's short, but the next chapter is much longer, I needed to split it up, and this was the best spot to do it in.

I don't own Twilight.

* * *

Chapter Eight.

Bella.

"Edward, can I ask you something?" I asked, as he walked me home the next evening.

He glanced over at me, and nodded. "Yeah, sure, go for it."

"Well, there's this little music festival in the park. I auditioned for it, and got a 45 minute set and-"

"Bella, that's awesome," he told me, leaning over to give me a one armed hug. He smelled so amazing up close.

_Focus, Bella, focus._

I smiled up at him. "Thanks. I'm really excited. Anyway, what I wanted to ask was, if you'd come with me? It's tomorrow afternoon-short notice, I know-but you could play the piano for me? You know all my songs, and we'd just do the same set as the bar, and you know that duet you wanted to do? This would be perfect."

He laughed at my rambling. "Of course I'll go Bella. No problem."

"Really?" I beamed. "Thank you!"

The next morning I met Edward outside the park. He was waiting for me with coffee for both of us. I hadn't really been a big coffee drinker before getting to the city. Lately I'd been living on the stuff, so I took it from Edward with a big thank you. He got it just the way I liked it, with milk and a little bit of sugar.

"We match," he said suddenly, as I eagerly took a drink of my coffee.

I looked at him, confused for a minute, and then I realized what he meant. We were both wearing black jeans, converse-though mine were green and his black-and hunter green shirts. I grinned at him, and he grinned back at me.

We walked through the crowd of people here for the festival. One of the bands was already playing, but we finally made it backstage, where a manager-the guy I had auditioned too-was holding a clip board, looking stressed out.

"Hi," I said, coming up to him, with Edward at my side. "I'm Bella Swan."

He scanned the clip board. "Right. Who's this?"

"Edward Cullen. He's playing piano and singing a song or two with me."

"Are you a band or something?"

I stared at him for a second, and then shrugged. "Uh, yes, I guess we are."

"Do you have a name?" he said, while Edward and I stared blankly at him.

"Er, yes," I said. "It's.. 2 In the Morning."

The manager raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and scribbled something-presumably the name-onto the paper. "You're on in twenty minutes. Be ready."

"2 In The Morning?" Edward asked me, as we walked away from the manager to a couple of chairs, where the rest of the people playing were hanging out.

I shrugged. "I was on the spot!" I laughed. "Anyway, it fits, you know. When we met, last call, all that. 2am is kind of our time."

He smiled at me. "I like it."

"You do?"

He nodded. "It's catchy, too. I didn't know we were a band though."

"We are," I said, smirking a bit, before sobering up. "I wouldn't be here without you Edward. And you're pretty much the best-"

"And only," he cut in.

I rolled my eyes "-friend I have here. So yeah, I don't really want fame or recognition or anything like that if you aren't part of it," I told him, honestly.

He reached down and squeezed my hand. "That means a lot to me, Bella. Thank you."

I squeezed his hand back, and in that moment I was pretty sure I couldn't be happier. Especially when he didn't let go of my hand. We sat there for twenty minutes in silence, still holding hands.

"Introducing our next group, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen - 2 In the Morning!"

Edward and I walked out on stage together-still holding hands, I might add, while everyone clapped. Edward went to sit down at the piano while I went up to the microphone.

I was pretty good at the whole interacting with the crowd thing. I had the whole speech down, and I don't know, I found the whole on stage in front of so many people so easy and effortless. Where I belonged.

After greeting the crowd I launched right into our set. It was different than playing at the bar. I usually tried to keep my bar shows somewhat low energy, because that's the way Mike seemed to like it, but out here I was playing all of my favorite rock songs, moving and dancing across the stage, feeding off the crowd, which was amazing. They were jumping and screaming and cheering us on.

Between songs I talked with the crowd, asking if they were having fun, or if anyone had a request, and I'd pick a song out of the shouts that were thrown back at me. People were singing along, and it was an amazing feeling. A rush that couldn't be rivaled.

I loved every second of it, and I think Edward did too. Everytime I glanced back at him he was smiling. He backed up my vocals, and finally for the last song I invited him away from the piano to do one of our duets with him.

Edward had a really amazing voice. He was amazing on the piano, and he could really sing too. I loved hearing his voice, and even more I loved hearing his voice mixed with mine. Maybe I was being biased, but I thought we sounded pretty amazing together. Our voices mixed and blended. Like they were made for each other.

We finished our duet to a loud of cheering and clapping and shouting, and I laughed as Edward swung his arm around me. We thanked the crowd, did a cheesy bow, and left the stage.

"That felt amazing," I said, grinning up at him.

"It did," he agreed, grinned in response. "Come on, let's go get some food. My treat."

"Sounds good to me."


End file.
